Anti-LGBTQ mayoral candidate once encouraged husband to attend Pride event clad in Speedo

Franklin, Tenn alderman, mayoral candidate, and MAGA Republican Gabrielle Hanson this year tried to block a Pride festival because she felt it was dangerous to the innocence of children. She is also the same person who in 2008, according to her husband, encouraged him to attend a Pride festival in Chicago while clad in nothing but a tiny red, white and blue speedo.

News Channel 5 in Nashville has the story, including 'the receipts."

It's an image that goes against everything that Franklin alderman and mayoral candidate Gabrielle Hanson has claimed she believes — an image of her own husband wearing nothing but an American flag Speedo at a Pride event. And if her husband, Tom Hanson, can be believed, Gabrielle Hanson not only supported the decision, but pushed him to go through with it.

Hanson, a first-term alderman, bolstered her MAGA credentials earlier this year and launched a campaign for Franklin mayor after leading a bitter, but unsuccessful battle to block a Pride festival from being held at a city park. She claimed it was necessary to protect innocent children. Yet, NewsChannel 5 Investigates obtained a 2008 photo of Tom Hanson, wearing only the tiny red, white, and blue swimsuit in the middle of a downtown Chicago street during the city's annual Pride Parade. Other images depict scenes that Gabrielle Hanson has insisted should not be occurring in public, including flamboyantly attired drag queens. 

 When confronted with the picture during a board meeting where she successfully avoided a censure vote for ethics violations (having nothing to do with Pride), neither Hanson nor her husband had any comment.

News Channel 5 added the following:

Hanson is trying to unseat incumbent Mayor Ken Moore, lambasting her fellow Republican for casting the tie-breaking vote to allow the Franklin Pride event. She has been endorsed by a far-right political action committee that calls itself Williamson Families and cites her opposition to the LGBTQ+ event as one of the reasons for its support. 

 “Franklin deserves leaders that will courageously defend our state and federal constitutional rights, champion local business owners, protect the innocence of our children, practice transparent accountability and fiscal responsibility, and thoughtfully listen to residents rather than cater to radical left agendas," Williamson Families said.

And apparently, according to News Channel 5, the controversy about Pride is the latest in a string of interesting revelations about Hanson, including promoting prostitution.